Northwest Aerospace News April | May Issue No. 2 | Page 52

IDAHO AEROSPACE ALLIANCE SPOTLIGHT T rillions in investment worldwide go into securing our facilities from ground-based threats — security guards, metal detectors, perimeter fences, barricades, access control systems, cameras and motion sensors. Now anyone with an OTS (Off-The- Shelf) drone gains unfettered access to airspace above our government buildings, commercial facilities, public venues, power plants and military bases. What was once protected by high ground/elevation, guard towers, physical barriers or other ground- based preventative measures has now become exposed and penetrable. As such, UAS defense should be on top of any organization’s agenda that has a duty to protect the privacy and safety of those in which it is entrusted. A harsh reality is drones are often used for nefarious purposes, including terrorism and espionage. Addition- ally, drones are being used to drop contraband into prisons; interfere with fire fighting and law enforcement; paparazzing over film sets; videoing sports events, and other nuisance acts. Drones are easily weaponized and empower wrongdoers with the same GPS-guided, autonomous weaponry once available only to militaries. This powerful technology combined with ill intent causes immense harm and destruction. Large defense contractors — too slow to respond — are unprepared with real solutions to this new class of prob- lem. Latent attempts at repurposing older cost-prohibitive defense systems designed for large aircraft have proven insufficient to solve the problem. 52 NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS What is needed is a cost-effective, scalable solution to meet the prolif- eration of OTS drones — one acces- sible to commercial and government markets. Black Sage, a nimble and responsive company with vertical tech- nology expertise tracking and artificial intelligence, has come ahead with the solution: UASX. UASX uses integrated sensors and AI (artificial intelligence) to detect drones in protected airspace, track precisely with long-range optics, and trigger physical defeat. UASX systems are daisy-chained to cover large areas and to provide the robustness of coordinated detection, tracking and defeat nodes, while algorithmic target prioritization and zone-based response escalation allow for fully autonomous or Human-in-the-Loop operating modes. UASX nodes are pole-mounted, tri- pod-mounted or vehicle-mounted, and readily integrate with external control and alarm systems using standard internet/network protocols. For your counter-drone concerns, please contact Black Sage. We’ll define the problem and deliver a tailored, layered solution. Black Sage Technologies 1211 W Myrtle Street Suite 110 Boise, Idaho 83702 208.810.4020 [email protected] https://www.blacksagetech.com